A/N: I have... emotions right now about BtS episode 3. I don't want to rant about it up here though or the comments, so hit me up on tumblr for an emotional talk about the whole thing. This chapter is just indulging in fluff and happiness, so please enjoy.
Guest: *SCREECHING* I NEED TO KNOW IF WHAT I THINK JUST HAPPENED, HAPPENED.
- It'll be indirectly explained here!
DrftKaido: DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? IS WHAT JUST HAPPENED WHAT I THINK JUST HAPPENED?
- You might be right!
Guest: Bring Rachel back!
- She'll be back soon! Stay tuned.
Animelover5956: Oh shit, I need to know what went down in that darkness! My sense are tingling lol.
- It'll be indirectly explained!
It would be a lie if I said I got a goodnight's rest. I was up all night, stuck under Kate's weight, and the fact that I may or may not have kissed Kate on the lips. I didn't mean for that to happen! Maybe I was tired and it was her forehead after all. But why would Kate say that if I nothing happened?! Chloe would be proud, yet so disappointed in me, all while laughing under her breath. As for Rachel... unpredictable.
Kate told me to wake her up if I woke up first, but technically, I was up all night. During that whole night, I saw the lights turn on in the hallway and some mumbled talking, but the door never opened. At least Victoria ignored Kate's door when hers was closed.
Should I talk to Kate about it? How would I start that conversation? Hey, did we kiss last night? Ugh, that was weird!
When I started to feel Kate shift around, I shut my eyes and pretended to still be sleeping. Kate was very cautious when she got up, moving herself around slowly. I felt her fingers gently brushing against my face, moving my bangs from my forehead. I was screaming on the inside from not being able to see what was going on.
Then, I started to hear... counting? Counting and gentle pokes on my cheeks. I fluttered my eyes open and was welcomed by Kate's face close to mine, quietly counting all the freckles on my face. I couldn't hold back a smile and she couldn't either. She kept counting though, now louder and more clearly. She was on number twenty-three.
I let her keep going until she was on forty and was poking against my neck.
"Good morning, Max." She greeted and sat up to stretch her arms.
"Morning, Kate." I sat up too, rubbing my eye and groaning out one last yawn. It didn't feel as awkward as I thought it was going to be. I got up and took my camera out of my bag, checking if I had enough film and got back into bed. Kate backed up a little bit, trying to get her out of the shot, but I wanted her to be a part of it. I put my arm around her and she covered her face with her hands as she got into the crook of my neck.
"No, Max, I look so bad!" I heard under her hands.
"Not even! If you look bad, I look like complete shit." I nuzzled into her. She eventually hid her eyes against my neck, but her smile was still prominent. That was enough for me. I knew I wanted to keep this photo for myself.
"You're so pretty, Kate." I said as the photo developed. That was all I could say; I still wasn't sure what happened last night.
She giggled, "Thank you, you're cute too."
I sighed and placed the photo next to the one Kate had and swung my legs on the side of her bed. "You stay here. I need to talk to Chloe for a bit."
"Is she awake?"
"I'll wake her up." I got up and left into the living room, where Chloe was lying on her stomach, half off the bed and snoring quietly. "Chloe!"
I started to shake her around and hit her until she snorted. "Huh, I'm awake, fuck."
"Outside, we need to talk." I grabbed onto her arm and pulled her, making her fall onto the floor. Chloe got to her feet, hastily unlocking the door, and then slamming it behind us when we were both out.
"You know we were up at two AM, right?" Chloe took her hood off and showed her messy blue hair.
"I know, but something weird happened last night." I rubbed my forehead.
"Holy shit, you two fucked last night..." She gasped.
"No, Chloe! I don't know what we did! I wanted to kiss her forehead, but it didn't feel like her forehead, you know what I mean?"
She raised one eyebrow, but she was clearly deep in thought. "Did it taste like anything? Dead giveaway. Lip balm, chapstick, anything?"
I tried to remember. I was so lost and stunned that I could barely bring the memory back. "I don't know, maybe... A little strawberry?"
She quickly sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "Yep, you kissed her, dude. Well done."
"What?! A-are you sure?" I didn't even want to believe it. I couldn't have...!
"Pretty sure, because pretty sure strawberry lotion doesn't taste good. You're in denial."
I folded my arms and let my head drop down in shame. It was bound to happen in the same day from talking about kissing so much! Kate seemed to be in a better mood, but was it from kissing me in the dark, just being with me, or some other third thing?
"Hey, you knew it was strawberry, so that means something." Chloe patted my shoulder.
I opened the door again and went back inside, only to be met with Victoria's glare and shiny, silk robe.
"You're just going to be loud... like you live here?" She placed her hand on her hip.
"It was hella important." Chloe answered nonchalantly.
"Didn't mean you had to be loud as shit about it!" Victoria spun around, her robe hitting our legs, and started strutting away, "God, made me get up just to remind me you two bitches are still here."
Chloe could only whip her two middle fingers out. As Victoria slipped back into her room, Kate poked her head out and said, "I still promise she's nice."
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Right and I promise I'm a fucking dolphin."
Kate walked out, wearing a pair of bunny slippers and holding her sketchbook in her hand. "Would you two like breakfast? Well, it's early lunch now. Or we could go out and see some restaurants."
"We should go out." I suggested, "I'm sure Victoria would like her beauty sleep."
Chloe mumbled, "She's the fucking Beast, that's what she is..."
"I see you're feeling better." Kate smiled at her.
"Hella better!" She nodded and smiled back.
"Okay, so you guys can go ahead and shower and get ready. I'll be out here practicing for little bit." She tapped her book.
"Actually, uh," Chloe interrupted, "You should go first like last night. You live here after all."
"Oh, well," she shrugged her shoulders and put her book down on the coffee table, "Okay then."
Chloe and I sat down on the couch, sitting quietly and clearing our throats from how quiet it was. As soon as Kate walked across the living room, passing us and into the bathroom, Chloe grabbed the sketchbook and started looking through it.
"Chloe, what are you doing?"
"Just flipping through," she replied. "She's hella good at this. You should let her draw you naked sometime."
My interest peaked when she said that, so I couldn't help but scoot closer and peer over. Kate's style was very cartoon-y and appealed more to children's eyes, but her practice style was so realistic that if you told me they were photos, I would have believed it. She had a good grasp on drawing people, both clothed and not, and also values and shadows. Eventually, we got back to when she drew me for the first time, sitting across from her and smiling like a goofball.
"Why does this look more like you than you look like you?" She leaned it more towards me so I could see it.
"Hell if I know. I just sat there; I didn't know she was drawing me at all."
"Oh shit, I skipped some pages." She flipped back a couple pages. I was confused and she looked like she was too. The pages were filled with smaller me's? Like, it was still my face, not as good as the bigger photo, but it was still me. I was shocked to see them, because I thought the other one was the first time she drew me.
I remember her saying, "When I see something pretty, I have to draw it." or something similar. And we did meet before that happened, so...
The bathroom door opened and Chloe shut and threw the book back onto the coffee table. We sat together and she took her phone out, opening it to a random app so it didn't just look like we were invading her privacy.
She was still drying her hair, wearing a simple dark red shirt and black skirt, and wearing our similar bracelets, of course.
"Alright Maxi pad, your turn." Chloe hit my arm with the back of her hand.
I almost argued, but let it go and nodded. I grabbed my clothes and headed over to the bathroom, thoughts of the sketchbook coming back to me. It was all I thought about the whole time I was in there! Maybe I kissed her, maybe she was drawing me way before we officially had a conversation, maybe Victoria fucking hated me, maybe Rachel could help but she has a life unlike all three of us. And last, but certainly not least, maybe I found out that Kate always tasted like strawberries.
My whole shower consisted of those thoughts. Through my changing of clothes and other things, I eventually accepted every possible scenario, since I didn't know the truth and anxiety thought everything was right. I crashed into Kate as I left, causing awkward laughs and shy "excuse me's". As I walked away to sit on the couch, I was reminded of Rachel and how she rolled up the sleeves, so I did that.
"What do you want to eat, Max?" Chloe asked.
I shrugged, "I'll just go with what you two want. I'm not as picky as before."
"Hella true."
When Kate came back and Chloe went her turn, Kate started to practice and do general bases and poses. I couldn't help but watch her as she swiftly covered the page; I had to take my camera out for another photo. I really, really, really wanted to ask about everything I had stuck in my mind. But, that was all they were. Stuck up there and not going anywhere else but there.
Chloe's phone on the table started to vibrate. Rachel's face and her name in Chloe's phone "Baby" with a heart next to it popped up on the screen. I doubted that Chloe put that name in herself, but hey. Rachel must have found time to listen to Chloe's voicemail and wanted to talk. I decided to let the phone go; Chloe would love a voicemail from her too. Though, I knew she'll be pissed for a good minute.
"You're not going to answer for her?" Kate asked me, looking up from her book.
"Nope, I bet you, Rachel will leave something in return. Again, practically married. Or, "joined at the hip" as Chloe's mom said it."
Kate nodded and went back to drawing, "I wish I found the time to draw Rachel."
"Naked?" I asked that without thinking twice of it. It sort of just fell out of my mouth.
"If she's up to the task." Kate shrugged her shoulders. "I've seen quite a few naked individuals, so it wouldn't be as awkward as you think."
"I believe you."
Like I said, Chloe's phone lit up and Rachel had left a voicemail. And on cue, Chloe came out of the bathroom with pale blue hair and yet another hoodie, but it was one of those short-sleeved hoodies.
"Hey Chloe, Rachel left a message for you." I grabbed her phone and outstretched my arm to her.
"Like a text?" She grabbed it and was slightly surprised. "Oh, voicemail."
"Can we listen to it too?"
"I, uh, I guess?" She tapped a couple times on her screen and then sat down next to me. She placed her phone back on the table.
We were all silent as it started, "Hey Chloe, I'm bad at this too." She laughed at herself. "I've been listening to yours, so I'm sorry for not returning one until now. I love you too, even though we're apart again, I still somehow fall in love with you again and harder than the last. There's not a single thing out there that'll ever make me let you go... not even when the world's ending. And yeah, we're each other's pains, but that's just another reason why I love you. We saved each other, remember? I'm proud of you and I always miss you. Love you again."
Dog, I was so gay. I wanted to cry so badly, but Kate was doing that for me and Chloe had one tear fall down her cheek.
"I'm saving that forever." Chloe wiped away her tear and put her phone away. "So, uh... grub time or are we just sitting here?"
Our trip out wasn't the most interesting thing in the world. We all couldn't decide where to eat and, since Chloe didn't want to walk into Starbucks, we settled on McDonald's. I nearly forget what I was worried about earlier. Nearly, because there were times I looked at Kate's face and I was reminded of last night. We even sat in McDonald's for a while after we finished, since Chloe and Kate were in a deep conversation about Kate's various talents, aside from being an artist.
"Oh, wow, violin and piano, that's hella crazy." Chloe seemed pretty impressed.
"I honestly don't know which one's the hobby anymore." She laughed. "I know I'm going to school for animation, but playing music gives me the same feeling."
"That's cool." Chloe then lifted her hand up to her lips, but then became concerned and kind of-grossed out, "Shit, either of you guys have like chapstick or something?"
I reached into my pocket, but Kate was faster to reach hers and hand it over the table. It was one of those round ones and it was pink.
"Thanks," she twisted the cap open, "Oh wow, look at that, it's strawberry."
She emphasized the last word and raised her eyebrows at me.
"It's what Victoria buys me. I asked once and she was like, "Blistex?" like she was disgusted."
"I feel like she's trying to change you."
"I think it's her way of helping me into a relationship. From my clothes to my hair, I don't mind it. It's how she's bonding with me."
"She really is like a cat, isn't she?"
Kate smiled and nodded.
When we finally left the restaurant, the manager had to kick us out, we sat in Chloe's car and had no clue where we were going next.
"I told my friends not to text or call or even come by to my apartment while you two were over. I still need to do homework, but I know you don't want to do that."
"Wait, are we going to church with you tomorrow?" Chloe asked like she was slightly afraid.
"You don't have to. I'll be gone for an hour and then I'll come back."
Chloe released a sigh of relief.
"No, Chloe, we should go with Kate. She's always going alone and it's not as boring as you think."
She glared at me in the rear-view mirror, "That's it, we're going back and you're doing homework."
"What are you gonna do then?"
"I dunno, bother you guys, bother Bitchtoria, listen to Rachel. I have hella shit to do."
And so we did that. I groaned as I took my binder and books out of my school bag. Kate was acting the same as she always did and told me over and over, "If you need help, please let me know." We sat on the floor, or more like we both lied on our stomachs and rested on our elbows.
"Magic class is so boring..." I moaned and slammed my forehead into my notebook.
"It's just to get the general down. You don't have to take it though, so you could just stop if you want."
I lifted my head again. "Steph and Mikey are cool, so they're the only reasons why I'm still there."
I continued, "I wish we could've done more things outside."
"I know," she sighed. "And I like what I'm wearing too."
"It's nice. I think it would look better if your hair was down."
"I'm looking down, Max. Long hair and looking down is annoying."
"I wouldn't know." I ran a hand through mine.
Kate's door was closed, but as we were getting back to our work, we heard, "Fuck you, Chloe!" outside the door.
"I guess she started with bothering Victoria." I snickered under my breath.
"I'm not surprised she did. I knew the moment she called her that name she was going to irritate her."
"That's Chloe for ya."
From day to nighttime, all we were doing was working on homework and talking to each other about small things or how tired we were. Of course, I was still thinking about the same things since this morning. By the time dinnertime began, I finally finished my notes on rituals in different cultures. Somehow, Kate was running through her assignments like they were nothing and she finished hours before. She even had time to practice on her violin and eat a snack so she can take her medication!
"Oh, my dog," I slammed my head down on my book again, "Wake me up when it's tomorrow."
"Alright then." Kate obliged and then I felt her hand run through my hair.
I lifted my head up again. "Talk about a knockout..."
We heard outside the door again, "Are you fucking serious, fuck off!"
"I don't feel like going out there again... Would it be gross to just lie down and die a little?"
"Maybe not die, but I do agree that I don't want to deal with Chloe and Victoria outside." Kate got up, letting her hair go down, and got into bed, getting under her blanket.
"Different position or same?" Again, another question that just fell out of my face.
"Want to try a different one?" She asked back.
I hummed as I joined her, "I dunno, kinda liked the one we were in." I was lying down on my side and Kate turned towards me, lying down on her side.
"I liked it. I fell asleep pretty fast."
"Well... maybe..." I scooted down a little and then forward. I didn't think it through, as my face was pushed against Kate's chest and pretty much between her boobs. I put my arms around her torso and she hugged me around my neck. We pulled each other close at the same time.
"Is this good?" I asked.
"It's nice. Let's go with this one tonight."
"You got it." I had to get up and turn off the light, so getting back into that position again in the dark was harder to accomplish. It was very quiet and calm, luckily Victoria and Chloe had stopped fighting and, at the very least, Chloe stopped annoying her.
I fell asleep pretty fast in that position, but after what felt like a couple minutes, I was awaken again from Kate whispering my name repeatedly.
"What's it like... to be happy all the time?" Kate asked out of nowhere. She must not feel well tonight. There was only so much medication could do. Hell, there was only so much I could do, but I wanted to help in any way I could. Even answering a deep question like that.
"All the time?" I repeated. "Happy is different to everyone."
"What's it like for you?"
I sighed and nuzzled more into her. "You want the honest answer?"
"Yes."
I already said that I liked her. Why wouldn't I tell her that she makes me happy? Plus, it's what she needs right now. Honesty is what she needs.
"My happiness, right now is... how I feel when I'm around you. You make me feel good and being this close to you is more than I deserve. I don't take it for granted; I'm so happy existing here with you. And... maybe people out there feel that same way all the time."
Kate was silent. I could hear her sniffle a couple times before saying, "Right... Goodnight Max. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight Kate. Don't be afraid to wake me up."
A/N: Review and shit!